Paper Smooches for Kit Kraft Wednesday

Just a quick card today for Kit Kraft Wednesday using paper from a leftover kit, combined with a stamp set from Paper Smooches. 

I was working off an old sketch that was on my table.  I used the kissing technique for this card, which gave the vases some texture.  Love the texture of those Kissable stamps from Paper Smooches. 

Next week hoping to use a new kit that arrived in the mail today . . . wait for it! 

Hope you find some time to create, today, tomorrow or whenever the spirit moves you. 

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  Neenah and Paper Accents*

Pattern Paper:  Studio Calico*

Stamps:  Crystal Clear and Kissables 1 and 2 from Paper Smooches

Ink:  Stampin' Up, Versamark and Ranger Embossing Powder

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up

Other:  Ki Rhinestones

*from Studio Calico Penny Arcade Card Kit

One Layer/Color Dare/Photo Inspiration

Three challenges were the inspiration for this card.

First and foremost, a one-layer card for Less is More.  I struggle with one-layer cards, so this was going to be quite a challenge!  I found out later that the real challenge for me is in reading the actual challenge.  It wasn't just a one layer challenge, it was a one layer challenge with "two of something."  This is what happens when you have four hours to create, you take your inspiration from challenges, and you dive into the fun part before actually reading the challenge.  (Well, the personal challenge of a one layer card was awesome for me, so it was a win-win situation). 

Second, a Color Dare from Color My Heart using Close To My Heart Goldrush, Honey, Crystal Blue and Pacifica. 

Third, photo inspiration from my go-to place for inspiration, StampNation.

Here is my card . . .

White cardstock, ink, a stamp set and some rhinestones!  My favorite element of this card is that white border at the bottom.  I masked off the bottom and used the bottom of one of the tree stamps to create the ground.

Fun stuff!  

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  Neenah

Stamps:  Always Grateful from Close To My Heart

Ink:  Close To My Heart

Other:  Ki Rhinestones

Inspired By Some Challenges

Last weekend I had posted on my favorite crafty site, StampNation, about how my crafting mojo was no where to be found.  I was challenged by some of the members there, and it was exactly what I needed to get back to creating. 

One of the challenges was a tic tac toe challenge, an old one, which I think was from The Paper Players.  At any rate, those challenges are timeless!  I combined a few of them with some current challenges, and here is the result. 

First, a card inspired by Muse Challenge #86, and using three items from the tic tac toe board (thank you card, pattern paper, shade of green).  Here is the card . . .
 

Leftover Basic Grey paper from a Simon Says Stamp kit was in the right place at the right time (and the only shade of green in the area).  The muse card is further below with my supply list (such a beautiful card in shades of blue). 

My second card is for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge (the sketch is below with my supply list).  On the tic tac toe board, the challenge was to use any shade of pink, embossing, and rhinestones or pearls. 
 

I embossed the ring, the rock, and the sentiments on this card.

I'm heading to a weekend crop later in the week, so I'll hopefully have plenty of time to create.  Of course, I'll be limited to the supplies on hand and will be chatting it up with friends. 

Hope you have your mojo and hope you find some time to create. 

Supplies Used - Thanks (Muse Challenge)

Cardstock:  Neenah

Pattern Paper:  Basic Grey Fresh Cuts

Dies:  Thanks from Paper Smooches, Scallop Circle from The Stamps of Life

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up

Other:  Enamel Dots from My Mind's Eye, Stickles

Supplies Used - Nice Rock

Cardstock:  Neenah*

Pattern Paper:  Studio Calico*

Stamps:  Poet Society Card Kit*

Dies:  Vintage Label from My Creative Time

Ink:  Versafine, Versamark, Ranger Embossing Powder, Stampin' Up Iridescent Ice

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up

Other:  Ki Rhinestones

*September Studio Calico Card Kit

Kit Kraft Wednesday - More Studio Calico

Two cards for Kit Kraft Wednesday, both using kits from Studio Calico.  First up is "You're a Gem" which is from the latest kit, Poet Society.

For this card, I let the pattern paper do most of the talking.  I used a sketch that was floating around on my craft table.  I love the look of the black embossed sentiment on that newsprint paper.

For my second card I used supplies from my Studio Calico Sandlot kit.  Love the blue and black on this card. 

Of course, I did add aa few of my own supplies, which I've included in the supply list below. 

I will be posting some Halloween cards in the coming days, so stay tuned. 

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  Bazzill*

Pattern Paper:  Studio Calico and Valerie Wibbins*

Stamps:  Studio Calico*

Ink:  Versamark and Ranger Black Embossing Powder

Other:  Plastic Gem*, Ki Rhinestones, and American Crafts Glitter Tape

*from Studio Calico September Card Kit (Poet Society)

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  Paper Accents* and Neenah*

Pattern Paper:  Life.Love.Paper*

Stamps:  Life.Love.Paper*

Dies:  Diamond Border from The Stamps of Life

Ink:  Memento, Versamark, Ranger Black Embossing Powders (plain and sparkle)

Other:  Sequins*

*from Studio Calico August Card Kit (Sandlot)

Mr. and Mrs. for Mojo Monday

I created a wedding card for this week's Mojo Monday.  Here is my card . . .

I used black and white elements with a touch of a very pale blue that appears gray in these photos.  Here is the sketch:

Loving that delicate heart border die!  

This one is earmarked for someone special and will be out of my house by tomorrow!

Make some time to create this week.

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  Bazzill and Neenah

Pattern Paper:  Fancy Pants Country Boutique*

Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp Apothecary Labels and Altenew Super Script 2

Dies:  Simon Says Stamp Apothecary Labels, Lost at Sea Die from My Creative Time, Heart Parade from Simon Says Stamp, and Stitched Border Dies from Pretty Pink Posh

Ink:  Memento, Versamark and Stampin' Up White Embossing Powder

Ribbon:  Crinkle Ribbon*

Other:  Ki Rhinestones

*from Simon Says Stamp Oct 2012 Card Kit

Don't Flip Out for StampNation Beach Vacation Challenge #1

My favorite craft place . . . StampNation . . . is taking us all on a beach vacation.  It's a week of creativity that kicked off this morning with a blog hop.  We'll have challenges to play along with all week (if I can fit them in along with my day job, I should be a super happy person by the end of the week).  

The first challenge was to show off our beach style, and it included some photo inspiration of the beach.  There was one photo of a beach fence with flip flops hanging off of it.  Now I don't have a beach fence . . . you know the kind with the wire and the long thin strips of wood.  But I had bought a fence die from Sizzix a few years ago and had always wanted to make a card that had the fence as the front of the card.  Today was the day! 

Here is the card completely closed . . .

Slightly open . . .

And the inside of the card . . .

And since my inside sentiment indicates "take one step at a time", I thought it appropriate to leave one flip flop on the inside. 

I finally used my $12.00 die to make the card I had always planned to make!  And it only took about 3 years. 

Seriously, if you have ever wondered about StampNation . . . it's the best crafty community I've ever been a part of and I highly recommend it. 

Hope you find some time to craft this week.  I will be crafting for my beach vacation all week. 

Ciao! 

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  Bazzill

Pattern Paper:  UFO's from my scrap bin

Stamps:  sandals4summer from The Stamps of Life

Dies:  Sizzix Bigz Fence Die and Sandals Dies from The Stamps of Life

Ink:  Ranger Archival Black

Ribbon:  American Crafts and Stampin' Up

Other:  Stampin' Up Fringe Scissors, Ki Rhinestones, Queen & Co. Candy Shop Stones

You Are Amazing for Colour Q

I fell in love with the combination for Colour Q and couldn't wait to get started, but then I sat struggling with where to begin.  I pulled out all sorts of stamps and had a few things in mind, and then I came upon a brown bag full of stamps that I had one for a challenge and had my "aha moment."
 

The Colour Q combination is Coastal Cabana, More Mustard, Island Indigo and one of my favorites . . . Poppy Parade.  I just love how these images came out in the varying colors.  The stamps has some florals that are slightly shaded which really adds to the image. 

What looks like a button at the bottom is actually a smiley face (hard to see in the photo) embellishment.

Hope you find some time to create! 

Supplies Used - ColourQ You Are Amazing

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up and Neenah

Stamps:  All About Hope (from Unity) and an unidentified stamp (from Unity)

Ink:  Stampin' Up

Ribbon:  Lawn Fawn Cord Twine

Other:  Ki Smiley Embellishment

Welcome Baby for The Card Concept

The Card Concept's challenge was to create a baby card.  I decided to go with a unisex card and started by creating a water color background using a wide striped stamp from Simon Says Stamp.

I had the baby carriage die, and my mind went back to the baby carriage that my mother had in the garage as a kid growing up.  It looked similar to the one below . . . it was either black or navy, and I think it might have been white paisley print.  Hard to remember that far back (dating myself).

I'm definitely a clean and layered girl.  I've had friends who have made fun of my linear style . . . "you're so linear!"  Is that a bad thing? 

The carriage was put together using pattern papers, cardstock and POW paper from American Crafts.  Black, silver and white! 

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  Bazzill, Strathmore Watercolor and American Crafts POW

Pattern Paper:  Close To My Heart

Stamps:  Wide Stripes and Handwritten Borders from Simon Says Stamp

Dies:  Cottage Cutz Baby Buggy

Ink:  Close To My Heart and Versafine

Other:  Ki Rhinestones

Inspired by Family, Food and Fun

Some days you sit down and can't create a thing.

Other days you sit down and you can squeak out a little craftiness.

Last night I was on a bit of a roll.  It must have been the connection with family, food and fun earlier in the day.  A 4th of July get together with family had me creating in the kitchen first . . . an interesting new recipe that I wanted to try.  I don't cook often . . . used to when my kids were younger . . . but that cooking energy is gone.  A new blog that I happened upon recently has me intrigued to cook a little more often.  Check out Damn Delicious (I made the Fusilli Caesar Salad). 

And then last night there were these creations.

First was a little something for AEI{heart}U's challenge which was "Gold" inspired. 

I needed a touch of red for my heart.  I have two confessions . . . 1) I am in love with the Avery Elle Simply Labels stamp/die that created that label and 2) I am in search of a new gold embossing powder that has a better sheen to it . . . this one did not thrill me.  But I know that I will go to my StampNation message board and someone will have the answer for the perfect gold! 

My second card was for Paper Smooches which was an "anything goes" challenge.  I used the color combination that was suggested at Color Throwdown. 

 I created my background using the Paper Smooches Bold Blooms set.  I also used one of my very favorite sets . . . Kissables 1 . . . my sentiment is stamped on a strip of it.  (LOVE for regular stamping and for "kissing" on other stamps. 

And then finally, a little something for Seize the Sketch.  For this one I used my Studio Calico Card Kit from last month . . .

I stamped on my card base and laid the pattern paper with the oval scallop window over the card.  That bottom brown paper is a wood grain pattern paper . . . easier to see in the photo below.  The buttons are strung together using twine.  My only wish (hindsight) is that I had flipped the pattern paper so that the yellow, lighter hues were at the top of the card. 

Can I tell you there is an odd optical illusion that makes these two photos look different.  I spent way too much time studying that large yellow button because in the photo above, it does not look like I stitched diagonally to make an "X", as it appears there is a horizontal stitch across the bottom two holes.  But in the photo below you can clearly see it's diagonal.

I hope you find some time to create this weekend.  I have a few more creations that I hope to share tomorrow.

Cheers!

Supplies Used - Rain or Shine

Cardstock:  Neenah

Stamps:  Avery Elle Link it Up, Bright Days and Simply Labels Hello

Dies:  Avery Elle Simply Labels

Ink:  Versamark and Stampin' Up

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up

Other:  Stampin' Up Gold Embossing Powder

Supplies Used - Celebrate

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up

Stamps:  Paper Smooches

Ink:  Stampin' Up

Ribbon:  Close To My Heart

Other:  Scrap of Vellum Dot Paper from Doodlebug, Ki Rhinestones

Supplies Used - Thank You

Studio Calico Card Kit - June

Spellbinders Die

Versafine, Versamark and Close To My Heart Inks

White Embossing Powder

A Little Nautical

My first nautical stamp set arrived, and I've had a horrible time finding mojo.  I wasn't sure if it was the nautical theme tripping me up, or just a random creative slump.  I fought through earlier today to create a card combining a challenge to use color wash technique over at StampNation, and to create a nautical card over at The Card Concept.

So here is my clean and layered attempt at a nautical card.  My color washed background is supposed to emulate sky and sea.  

 The sailboat and seagulls were embossed in white once the color wash dried. 

With one nautical card done and under my belt, I will hopefully find more mojo!  One can hope.

Supplies Used

Cardstock: Gina K. and Strathmore watercolor paper

Stamps:  Here Comes the Sun Stamp TV Kit from gina k. 

Ink:  Stampin' Up and Versamark

Ribbon:  The Twinery

Other:  Stampin' Up White Embossing Powder; Ki Rhinestones